New York – Audiovox and Kenwood next month will deliver the lowest priced transportable car-to-home receivers for satellite radio to date.
These systems receive Sirius Satellite Radio and will carry a $99 estimated street price plus $69 for either a car or home adapter kit.
Sirius hopes the move will boost subscription sales as a similar ‘plug `n’ play’ device from Delphi (at $129) has accounted for 60 percent of front runner XM Satellite Radio’s sales.
The new Audiovox Sirius receiver is unique in that it comes with a second car kit option, which uses a wireless FM modulator for those cars that cannot accept a cassette adapter. The kit will be available in June at $89. The Audiovox S.R.S. Satellite Radio Shuttle also allows the user to bookmark up to ten songs and then whenever that song is playing on any Sirius station, it alerts the user.
Kenwood’s new Here2Anwhere, model KTC-H2A1, is the first plug `n’ play unit to fit into a DIN-size car stereo opening. It also has a feature that can record up to 24 song titles and the associated artist for future reference.
Said Sirius president and CEO, Joe Clayton, ‘To drive the industry we have to hit certain price points. This will help sales hit the roof. Once you reach one million units, you get the hockey stick curve which is straight up.’ Clayton said Sirius is subsidizing the cost of the new Audiovox and Kenwood units.
At a press meeting last night, both Audiovox and Kenwood showed the first dedicated home satellite receivers (display first at the January International CES) which are both slated for Q3 delivery at a suggested retail price of approximately $299.
